


A Ruptured Empire

by insidiousWriter



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Adult Trolls, Adulthood, Canonical Character Death, Caretaking, Caves, Character Death, Childhood, Childhood Memories, Death, Despair, Execution, Friendship, Headcanon, Headcanon Accepted, Hope, Multi, On the Run, Origin Story, Original Character Death(s), Parenthood, Rebellion, Sea Trolls, Storytelling, Troll Culture, Trolls, tyranny, tyrant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-20
Updated: 2014-07-12
Packaged: 2018-01-16 08:59:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1340041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insidiousWriter/pseuds/insidiousWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of how The Ancestors lived without any recollection of playing SGRUB, so it will act like a normal story without mediums, Scratches, and various other SBURB/SGRUB conditions.  Everything in this is a headcanon and not in the actual story except for notable events that are already canon, the rest is all what I think would've happened, but you can accept it as headcanon.  ENJOY!</p><p>ANY AND ALL CRITICISM WILL BE MUCH APPRECIATED AS I'VE NEVER WRITTEN FANFICTION BEFORE!</p><p>Edit: I'm sorry I haven't been updating recently, inspiration doesn't hit hard, and barely hits me at all.</p><p>(Written By Author 1 of this account)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Start of a Rejected Life

"Feed her! Feed the Mother Grub!" A voice demanded.

Hundreds of pails lined the base of the cave, all filled with troll DNA for the Mother Grub. One at a time a troll would pick up the bucket, and fling the DNA into the Mother Grub's mouth. The Grub would use that DNA and the DNA from all the others to create a troll grub using the fine silk of her body and the life inside her incubator. A woman had already been assigned to care for the grub that is to come out, yet she has no name to speak of, and is not of importance.

"Put your backs into it!" the voice shouted, "If we don't get a grub worthy for the Grand Highblood, then he will execute all of you for a new set of caretakers."

The female trolls feared for their life of the Grand Highblood, everyone did. He was a fearless tyrant, who painted his castle with the blood of anyone who defies his will. At this time, everyone was not rushing to force-feeding the Mother Grub all the Dna they can from the buckets. The buckets are known as unfortunate devices in which a troll is forced to mate with another troll for the sake of keeping their planet, Alternia, alive, and for the sake of keeping their life.

The Mother Grub was starting to appose more DNA as she started to work on creating a grub for the Grand Highblood. She heated up due to the large amount of DNA and her body hard at work to please the Grand Highblood. 

Inside the Mother Grub was a chamber, located in the lower part of her abdomen. There it created an incubator, and fine threads of silk. That silk was special, as it weaved int the shape of the grub to be born. The heat from the incubator reflected the energy of the Mother Grub and the color of the troll. The heat this time was a raging fire, which indicates a low blood, while a cooler heat indicated a highblood. The Mother Grub continued to weave its masters child, hoping it could somehow turn into a royal purple blood instead of whatever it was to become. As the inal thread was sewn in, the Grub then gave life to it, by infusing it all the DNA into the small grub. After a few seconds in a cool down, the grub popped out from the behind of the Mother Grub.

"How repulsive," the assigned caretaker said when she saw it.

"Disgusting... kill it now... Not worthy," others followed in response.

"What do you think of it Maryam?" one voice asked.

"I think," she hesitated, "that we should leave it to die."

Maryam was unsure about her decision, she didn't like it, but she felt almost drawn to it.

The grub was a bright, candy red, a mutant blood, one that has never been seen before. That color was already unfavorable to the Grand Highblood, but the horns were worse. Instead of long, jagged and zig-zag horns like the Highbloods, this grub's horns were nubs, almost the exact opposite. Everyone rejected the grub, and they left it out to die just a few feet outside the cave in the warmth of the Alternian Sun.

Maryam continued her normal work and tried again to get a grub worthy of the Grand Highblood. A couple hours passed, and Maryam started to check on the abandoned grub. It surprisingly was not crying, and in a mutual state, and it stared at her in silence. Its large, red eyes seemed to beckon to Maryam, but she ignored it the first time, going back to work. The second time, Maryam came by with her lunch, and the grub was rolling a rock on the ground.

Maryam gave up, and she forfeited some of her lunch to the bright red grub. She tore off a few pieces of her sandwich and fed the grub with it. After a few bites and some water, the grub chirped at Maryam. She smiled, and patted the grubs hair. The grub chirped again, and this time, it crawled to her lap and fell asleep on her. Maryam continued to eat her sandwich while petting the baby grub with small horns.

After Maryam finished her work for the day, she brought her dinner, and a smaller dinner for small grubs, outside the cave where the little red grub was located. The grub was gone from sight and Maryam started to panic. She turned the corner and saw the grub, with birds surrounding it, taking a peck at the defenseless grub. Maryam got angry and ran for the grub, fending off the carnivorous birds. She picked the grub up, and fed it dinner.

Maryam knew she was getting close to the abandoned grub, and she wanted to keep it. She wanted its bright color, its small horns, and its sweet chirp for herself. But she knew that if people saw her with the grub, they would see her as a traitor, a caretaker who left their job with one less worker. She made her decision, and ran away from the cave. Luckily for her, no one saw her leave her home, but she knew they would figure out sometime, and that was the first check-mark of a traitor, and of a revolution to come in time.


	2. Store Tending

Maryam ran for many miles, tired, and clutching on to the candy red grub for its life. She was exhausted, extremely exhausted, but she knew the Grand Highblood's guards would be after her soon, if not already. She had no food or water, or any time to prepare her leave, and little money saved up from her back-breaking work. It was worth it though, she was out of that hell-hole for good, or so she thought.

Eventually, she found a small, dead-end town, with about only 50 trolls living there at the time. She walked over to the General Store, and stocked up on water, food, and gruel to use for the little grub. Fortunately, grubs don't develop into trolls for one sweep, so she has the time to work if she found a job. She filled the store basket with 3 gallons of water, gruel, and a bundle of bananas, which costed about 250 boon dollars. She only had 500 in all, and hopefully Maryam could pay for next weeks food. As she walked to the register, the employee noted something to her.

"Oh, what's a fine lass like yourself doin' out here?" he asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it for now," Maryam replied.

"You sure? It seems pretty important if you have a grub like that from the Mother Grub, that only Caretakers and Lusii get."

"Yes, I'm sure. But, can you help me?"

"Sure, but, uh, It'll cost you," he made a hint with his hands for boon dollars.

"Listen, I only have 500, and I'm using half of it here. Now where can I find somewhere cheap to stay and hopefully somewhere to work at?"

"Alright, alright, I don't want to be the bad guy to a mother. And you need work huh? Well, you can work here, I'll pay you 20 boon dollars a day."

"A day!? Oh my, that is so little, how can I live off of that?"

"I'll let yer self and yer grub star in the shed for free."

"Oh my, I would LOVE this job. Thank you sir! I'm surprised by how nice this town is!"

"Well, there's barely anyone here so it's always nice around here, almost no crime. It's always great to have new residents too. What's yer name anyway?"

"My name? Oh, yes, my name is Maryam."

"And yer grub?"

"His name? I hadn't though about it..."

"Well, it's not important at the time, just here," he handed Maryam her groceries, "take yer things and settle in the shed for the night."

Maryam walked behind the store to find a shed. Outside of the shed on the left was a pile of bins, most likely used for storage, and on the right, a few feet away, was a faucet that she could use to bathe herself and her grub in. On the inside of the shed, there was only one window, a dusty mattress with a thin sheet, and a stove used to cook, but no refrigerator to store food in. There wasn't much, but it was enough for now for Maryam and her grub to live in. After setting her groceries down, she took a bin from the side of shed and headed towards the faucet for a bath. She decided to bathe the grub first, and she turned the faucet on, and let the water run into the bin for a bath. She didn't want to wash herself first, so she carefully placed the grub inside the tub, who had been surprisingly quiet the entire time, speechless.

It froze up immediately and started to cry from the bath water. Maryam brought the grub to her chest and started to rock it about, back and forth, and back and forth in her hands to stop it from crying. She dipped her finger in the bath water and noticed that it was freezing cold. She knew that grub wouldn't take a bath in that alone. As a compromise, she turned the faucet back on and undressed herself. She knew the grub would want to wash with its so-called 'mother.'

Maryam, with her smooth and perfect body and skin, washed herself and the grub along. The grub was happy o be with mother as she would periodically use the bin to pour water over herself to clean. They bonded through washing like this, but it wasn't often they could wash like this since water costed money. After a long day of running, Maryam climber under the thin sheet over the mattress without a pillow and waited for the grub to fall asleep before she did.

The next day, Maryam began her job as a supplier and it wasn't too hard, but it also would last too long. The hardest thing she had to do was seperate herself from the grub for a few hours. She didn't know how it could survive, but luckily, the owner of the store had a room from the grub to stay in during the day, but not at night. Maryam worked hard to restock the shelves and helping the little amount of customers a day. The days rolled on for about 2 weeks, until there was a knock on the store-keepers door. He opened it to reveal two other trolls in iron-clad armor holding up a piece of paper. The paper revealed to be a sketch of Maryam.

"Sir, have you seen this troll?" the man in armor said.

"No, why do you ask?" the store keeper lied.

"She abandoned our ruler, we need to find her, and execute her for being a traitor. Resources lead that two weeks ago, she was last seen here, in YOUR store."

"Ah, yes, her. She left right after, and fled south down the road."

"Thank you sir, your ruler will be pleased with this information," the two trolls went running down the road.

The store keeper shut the door and hurried to the shed that Maryam was living in. He opened the door to find her and the grub, sleeping soundly. The store keeper shook Maryam to wake her; "Come on, I have important news to tell you."

"Huh, wha? Oh, boss, what is it?" Maryam yawned.

"You need to leave. The Grand Highblood is after you, and he won't rest until you are executed along with the grub."

"But why?"

"Maybe because you abandoned your job and didn't say anything about it? Now get going! The trolls are going South, so you go North along the road. Here, take 1000 boonbucks, this is all I can do for you now. Thank you for helping me with the store," the troll said as he handed her the currency.

"Thank you sir, goodbye," Maryam waved as she began to head down the road. The grub stared at the motion her arm was moving, waving back and forth as she looked back at the man. The grub looked at its arms and legs, and waved one of them while giving a wide smile to the troll. Its bright red eyes reflecting off the Alternian Sun and two teeth poking through the upper lip.


	3. The Struggle of a Mother and a Child

Maryam went down the road until dusk fell on her and the grub; she strayed off the road and instead followed the forest line, in hopes to find a home. As the stars began to shine, Maryam came across the base of a mountain. She thought to scale the mountain, but decided it would be too dangerous.

She walked around the perimeter of the mountain for about an hour. The tall pine trees gave the forest a fresh scent, along with the dark green of its leaves, and the bushes at the base. It was hard to see all the color of the forest, but above was a spectacle to see. Neither moons were seen, but the distinct detail of the planets, galaxies, and nebulas lit up the sky with enough to see. Maryam then stumbled on a dirt path that seemed to lead to a ledge on the mountain, only about 30 feet up. She was curious, so she followed the barely visible road up to the ledge.

After a short climb on the rocky mountainside, Maryam came face-to-face with a cave inlet. No lights were on, and there weren’t any spare parts near the entrance so Maryam didn’t think anyone liked there, and she was right, the cave had no inhabitants. She walked inside the cave, which wasn’t that good of a decision for her at night, and she blindly went through with no light, no safety, no way to look on, only the cave and hopefully luck to find a place to sleep with the grub. Luckily for her, nothing settled inside the cave, and after following damp rocks that formed the walls, she came into a smaller inlet that was big enough to fit her and the grub. Maryam fell asleep with the hard ground on her back and the grub asleep on her stomach so it will always have a safe, warm place to sleep on.

Maryam had a restless night. She couldn’t move or else the grub would move and the ground was uncomfortable. The grub slept soundly thought, its little snores repeating after every other second. She found it kind of comforting that she could bond with the grub just by sleeping. When the Sun rose completely, light perpetrated the cave and gave a full map of its whereabouts. Shortly after the sun rose, the grub woke up to Maryam, dreamily gazing at it with a smile on her face. The grub smiled back and showed its tiny fangs.

Maryam took the grub back in her arms and searched the cave to see what was in it. She walked out of the room and found that the cave had a bigger section/room where she could’ve slept instead, but it still had no bed. Other than that big room, the little room, and the entrance, the cave was small, and perfect for Maryam to stay. She also looked at the forest, which seemed to go on for miles, and was only thick trees to see. The smell of the forest was always fresh and thick with oxygen. Birds chirped almost every second, but other than that, not many animals were seen.

Over the course of six days, Maryam individually picked leaves and berries. The leaves were used to make a comfortable bed for herself in the big room, and a future bed for the troll-to-be in the little room, and the berries were for food. She also began to carve a knife out of rocks in the cave that could be used to hunt, and hopefully soon not to be made out of fallen branches. She just needed a large enough branch to create a spear. Day ten in the forest and with the spear completed, Maryam began to hunt and look for a possible river, as rock water and tree sap was not enough. She also dug a deep hole for water, but it was hard to maintain, and she wanted to set out and hopefully find a town in the forest that didn’t know about her betrayal with the Grand Highblood.

*****

A year past since Maryam found the cave. She located a river in Week two, a town in Week 3 that provided no help whatsoever, and the grub began to take form in Month 9. Maryams life was still at a low, but now a troll has sprouted from the grub. He was a cute little troll, with small, nubby horns and a paler, gray skin. His hair had many small spiked protruding and almost stabbing the air, and covering the horns completely. His were a golden yellow with void-like pupils. Maryam loved him, and never wanted to go anywhere without him. It wasn’t until the small troll could start talking that Maryam began to teach him the essentials of life.

One day, as the little troll got the hang of walking and running that Maryam decided to take him out of the forest with her. Once a troll can run, they can go into the wild for guidance, Maryam always thought. She walked near the river with the baby troll and travelled downstream. They came across a small bush with many berries protruding for its leaves.

“You see here my child?” Maryam asked, pointing to the bush.

“Yes mother, what is it?”

“This is one of the many bushes in which these berries are edible. There are many bushes like this and many others that look like this, but are really poisonous. Do not worry about this one,” Maryam plopped a berry in her mouth and ate it, “You see?”

The trolls face brightened and he giggled, “Yes mommy!”

“Good. Can you please help me pluck some berries to bring home?” She said as she put some berries into a basket she brought along.

The little one rapidly plucked berries and gave them to her, in which she gladly accepted. After filling the basket, they walked further down the river and observed the fish swimming alongside them.

“When you are older, I’ll teach you how to spearfish. Would you like that my dear?” Maryam asked.

“Yes mommy, it’ll be fun!” the troll exclaimed.

Maryam smiled at the troll who once again, smiled back in radiance. Over the course of the day, Maryam struck three fishes with a spear she made and the collected many more berries for the week. The sun started to set and the sky turned into a bright orange and a breathtaking pink on one side of the sky and a dark blue and deep purple starting to form on the other side of the sky.

They started to make the trek back home by following the river upstream to the mountain. Night completely fell on the fast as they travelled, and Maryam made her troll stay close to her. She turned to him, who was still clinging on to her and noted, “I want you to promise me something.”

“Yes mommy?” He turned his head up to hers.

“Promise me, that you won’t go out at night. There are many dangers that lurk in the darkness of our world.”

“I won’t go Mommy!”

“Good,” she smiled at him once again.

About an hour after night fell on them, they made it back home safely and the troll got into his room and bed while Maryam went into hers. She was still a little sad that the troll didn’t sleep with her anymore to bond more at night, but they were already close. Maryam closed her eyes for a few seconds, and immediately woke again in shock.

“Oh gog, he is going to need to start learning reading and writing. I wonder if that little town has a school he can go to…”

Maryam shrugged off the thought and drifted into another dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, but I'm going to skip most of the troll's childhood until he is about 3 sweeps.

(Haven't had internet access lately, only on weekends, but more coming soon...)


End file.
